


Recalibrate (Or, 6741 times Shaw couldn't kill Root)

by greyjoying



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: F/F, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-16
Updated: 2016-05-16
Packaged: 2018-06-08 21:34:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6874498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/greyjoying/pseuds/greyjoying
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>No two simulations in Shaw's mind play exactly the same. However, there is on universal constant in them all. Shaw just can't kill Root.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Recalibrate (Or, 6741 times Shaw couldn't kill Root)

1,234.

Reese is dead. In fact, that's not true - he's techinically still dying. Shaw knows this because she has been 'techinically' dead a good few times before, and she knows what it feels like. 

Her earpiece jumps into life. "Ms Shaw, what was that? Is everything alright?"

Shaw opens her mouth, her eyes still trained on Reese, writhing in a pool of his own blood. The gun in her hands is warm.

_No, it's not alright. I shot Reese. Something is wrong with me, I can't stop i-_

"Reese got shot. They must have come from behind. I didn't see." The words fall out of her mouth, and she blinks in surprise. 

"What?! Sameen get out of there!" If Shaw had a heart, the sound of Root, flustered and urgent in her ear would break it a little.

Luckily she doesn't.

Another wave of pain shoots through her brain, and she bites her lips until she tastes blood to keep from crying out.

"Change of plan, I'll come get you." Root says, cutting through the pain.

Shaw staggers a little, the gun clattering to the ground. 

"No, Ro-" Images flick violently through her brain, too fast to understand. 

_Don't._ She wants to say, but she can't.

Helpless, she looks down and makes eye contact with Reese. Still clinging onto life, he raises his gun, shaking with pain. Shaw's mind is racing. In minutes Root will be here, and though Shaw isn't holding a gun anymore she can all too well imagine her own ingenuity. She can't control herself anymore, not before Root arrives, anyhow. If she couldn't stop herself from shooting Reese then how can she stop -

Shaw clenches her jaw and nods. "Do it."

The gun goes off. The world cracks.

The man in a lab coat leans over his monitor and shakes his head. "She's rather repetitive with these, isn't she?"

 

2,888.

"I could always tell you wanted me like this."

Fucking Root is not that different from fighting Root, as it turns out. One minute Shaw is on top, ripping off every bit of annoying material keeping her from Root's body, and the next Root has her pinned down, grinding against her and murmuring in her ear with that soft, smug tone that never failed to enrage her. 

"You're good at this." Notes Root, her voice breathy. 

Shaw manages to sit up and kiss Root again, taking extra time to bite her lip. Root's eyes are closed, and the moans she's making against Shaw's mouth are like a victory song in Shaw's ears. Root curves her arm round her waist, and pulls her in tighter. "Of course I'm good at this." Shaw grins, even though it's probably the most cheesy reply in the world.  
Root attempts to roll her eyes, which loses its impact when followed by a moan of pleasure. "That is the most nauseating-" The rest of Root's sentence is lost in a cacophany of moans, as she throws her head back, reeling in pleasure. _Well would you look at that,_ Shaw thinks. _Finally, a way to get her to stop talking._

3,970.

Blackness. Nothing. Shaw keeps her eyes closed, counting her breathing. Don't think anything. Don't think a single thing.

"Sameen?" Except someone is here to ruin it. Shaw opens her eyes. Root is only a shadow against the light pouring in through the open door. Her shoes click on the stone floor.

She hasn't seen Shaw yet. She lets her head fall back against the wall. A few more seconds of salvation yet.

Root finds Harold's body first. Then Greer's. Then Reese's. She's so close now Shaw can hear her tiny gasps, her whispers of "Oh God, no, please no."

"That's funny." Shaw laughs, hollow and bitter. ""I was about to say pretty much the same thing."

Root whips round. "What happened here? Who did this?"

Shaw tries to focus on something that is not Root's tear stained cheeks, and fails.

"Take a guess, Root."

"No."

"Not like it's gonna be anyone else."

"No!" Root cries, desperate. It feels like a punch in the gut. 

"It's Greer. He did something to me. I don't know. I can't control it."

"Then fight it!" Snaps Root, and Shaw sees anger flash across her face.

"You have to kill me, Root."

"I've already lost Harold and John. I can't-" Root is sobbing now, face a picture of devastation. 

"I'm sorry. There isn't any other way out of this."

Shaw pulls her gun out, and forces it into Root's hands. When she makes no move, Shaw places her hands over Root's and brings the gun to her forehead.

"Sameen. You can't ask me to do this. I-" Root is desperate now, pleading. 

"I know." Shaw admits. "Thats why I'm not asking you. I'm telling you."

 

4,500.

The whole thing is too easy. It's giving Shaw a sick, rotten feeling in the bottom of her stomach. She takes out some Samaritan goon with a gun, and she feels like she's done it a thousand times before. It's less like she's fighting, more like she's performing a play.

"I'm getting serious deja vu from this." She admits, not turning to look at Root, though she knows she's behind her. 

"From killing people? That's a shocker." Shaw can hear Root's smile in her voice.

"I'm just saying, this whole thing has felt off. Ever since I escaped. Maybe even before then."

"Hey." Root wraps her arm around Shaw's waist, resting her chin on her shoulder. "I know it's hard for you to relax, but it's ok. You're safe here, I promise." Root's breath tickles her ear.

"Safe? With a computer hacking assasin who tried to burn my face off with an iron?" Shaw asks, but she can't help smiling. 

Root presses her lips against Shaw's cheek. "I know it sounds unlikely, but yes."

5,777.

Shaw's hypothetical brains end up all over the wall. The operative watching shakes his head. "It's amazing honestly. No matter what, she just won't kill that damn woman."

From his chair, Greer nods. "I'm aware. It's becoming a serious problem." He lifts a glass of water to his lips. "Still, this knowledge may become useful to us at some point in future."

"Still, maybe it's better if we stopped trying to get her to kill her and-"

Greer shakes his head in distate. "Until Sameen Shaw is completely broken, completely ours. Until she is an asset without not a single thing endangering her loyalty to us - until then we keep going."

Greer slams the glass down and leans back in his chair. 

"Now. Run the simulation again."


End file.
